Drought, fires put foresters in a strain

A forestry official in South Georgia warns firefighting resources are wearing thin, as officials continue to battle wildfires in North Georgia.

Georgia Forestry Commission's Chief Forest Ranger Tom Lambert is leaving for Gordon County in the morning to help manage the firefighting activity. Lambert says the drought is only going to get worse as the long-term prediction shows little precipitation until December.

No burn permits are being issued, and he says you need to think twice before lighting recreational burns and only grill on cement or heavily-watered ground.

"And actually your firefighting resources are becoming difficult to find and we are utilizing our resources as best we can and also looking at other means where we can draw from other resources," said Chief Forest Ranger Tom Lambert.

Lambert says the continued dry weather with low humidity make it easy for a fire to get out of control quickly.